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Letter: It's beyond comprehension that some take issue with cartoon

I could hardly believe what I was reading on the editorial page in a recent edition of the Prior Lake American. An individual suggests local business should withhold advertising in the PLA because he considers the cartoon by Dave Grandlund “tasteless.”

He accuses the editor of the local paper of having “extreme liberal biases” for printing a cartoon based on the April 23 nationally televised press briefing on the coronavirus where the president said, and I quote: “I see the disinfectant that knocks it out in a minute, one minute. And is there a way we can do something like that by injection inside, or almost a cleaning? Because you see it gets inside the lungs and it does a tremendous number on the lungs, so it would be interesting to check that. Suppose we hit the body with tremendous – whether it's ultraviolet or just a very powerful light, bring the light inside the body which you can do either through the skin or in some other way.”

The cartoon was based on Trump's incoherent, rambling statements about using disinfectants and putting light into the body to kill the coronavirus. Dave Granlund was spot on with his cartoon depicting Trump shining a flashlight into his right ear and the light exiting his left ear while smiling with a can of Lysol in his left hand. It was especially applicable after the president said the following day, he “was being sarcastic.” What kind of a person, in a position of power and influence, would be so irresponsible as to intentionally mislead millions of fearful people into believing that consuming poisonous disinfectants would protect them or their loved ones from a virus that is killing tens of thousands of people, including children?

It would be the height of irresponsible journalism on the part of any editor to ignore such statements or actions by the president, when selecting articles or political cartoons to print. It is the editor's job to inform their readers on issues affecting their daily lives. It is beyond comprehension that some take issue with this and seem to attempt to intimidate the editor and discredit mainstream media. In this case it appears the writer is striking back after the cartoonist visualized for him that the president is something other than a genius for inferring shooting light into the body or consuming deadly disinfectants will protect against COVID-19.